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National Belonging and Public Support for Multiculturalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2019

Sara Wallace Goodman Open the ORCID record for Sara Wallace Goodman [Opens in a new window]  and
Hannah M. Alarian
Sara Wallace Goodman*
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
Hannah M. Alarian
Affiliation:
University of Florida
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Sara Wallace Goodman, Department of Political Science, University of California, Irvine, California, USA. E-mail: swgood@uci.edu
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Abstract

How do views about national identity shape support for multiculturalism? In this paper, we argue that individuals who view national ingroup belonging as “achievable” are more likely to support multiculturalism than individuals who view belonging as “ascriptive.” Using data from the 1995, 2003, and 2013 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) Nationality Identity survey waves across 35 advanced democracies, we find achievable national identities correspond with support for multicultural principles but not for programmatic aspects involving government intervention. Robust analyses reveal these patterns are specific to the content, rather than the strength, of one's national identity. Our findings underline the role of both national belonging and outgroup attitudes on building support for policies of inclusion—and therefore social solidarity—in diverse democracies.

Keywords

Multiculturalismnational identitypublic opinion
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , July 2021 , pp. 305 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2019

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